


as the feeling inside keeps building

by MichellesBoh (michellesbohh)



Series: look at all the things my true love gave to me (my true love) [3]
Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: College AU, F/M, Friends to Lovers, spending the holidays together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:40:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28240320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/michellesbohh/pseuds/MichellesBoh
Summary: Things That Peter Knows Right Now: A List.1. It’s winter break, but he hasn’t gone home like everyone else because he’s running a work study internship and he’d volunteered to stay behind to monitor one of their experiments. (Hanukkah had started in November this year so he’d already been home to celebrate with May).2. Michelle had texted him about an hour ago saying she’d be over to “hang out” in...well about an hour.3. They will be alone in his dorm since Ned has already gone home and Peter is fine. Everything isfine.(He’s not so sure about that last one.)Promptmas Day ? : “You didn’t think I’d let you spend the holidays alone, did you?”
Relationships: Michelle Jones/Peter Parker
Series: look at all the things my true love gave to me (my true love) [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2056125
Comments: 14
Kudos: 51
Collections: Twelve Days of Promptmas





	as the feeling inside keeps building

**Author's Note:**

  * For [perfectlystill](https://archiveofourown.org/users/perfectlystill/gifts).



> Hello! I'm back. Hope you guys enjoy this little scene that I so enjoyed writing and I hope you had a very Happy Birthday! Sorry I'm a day late!

Things That Peter Knows Right Now: A List.

1\. It’s winter break, but he hasn’t gone home like everyone else because he’s running a work-study internship and he’d volunteered to stay behind to monitor one of their experiments. (Hanukkah had started in November this year so he’d already been home to celebrate with May).

2\. Michelle had texted him about an hour ago saying she’d be over to “hang out” in...well about an hour.

3\. They will be alone in his dorm since Ned has already gone home and Peter is fine. Everything is  _ fine _ .

_ (He’s not so sure about that last one.) _

He snatches yet another dirty sock and t-shirt off the floor in his haste to at least pretend that he and Ned live in some kind of semblance of cleanliness (they do not) when he hears the telltale ding of the elevator at the end of his hall.

Haphazardly shoving the offending items into a hamper that he’s pretty sure is his, he concedes that this is as good as it was going to get since he’s simply run out of time.

“Hey, MJ.”

Peter is breathless as he yanks open his dorm room door and finds MJ standing there with a paper bag balanced on her hip and a crooked smile.

“Sup, loser,” she grins, stepping past him and into the tiny kitchen of the suite he shares with Ned. She shrugs out of her jacket and tosses it across the back of one of their two kitchen chairs only for Peter to scoop it up immediately and cross over to the hook by the door to hang it up.

“You do know it’s winter, right?” He teases her when he returns and Michelle smirks back at him, now wearing just a tank top and her jeans. “You not gonna keep me warm, Parker?”

Her comment has the desired effect when Peter’s cheeks flush and he scratches at the back of his neck, still eyeing her in a challenge.

You see, they have this  _ game _ they like to play. Ned’s in on it kind of, but only because he’s confronted them both individually about how “completely oblivious” they were both being.

Peter and MJ are  _ friends _ first. They have maintained that and they maybe also like to have a little fun pushing the boundaries of that friendship every now and then.

It’s  _ harmless _ even if Ned shakes his head at them every time Peter eases a hand at the small of MJ’s back and lets it linger a little too long under the guise of passing behind her to reach the fridge. Or when Michelle kicks it up a notch and plops herself mostly (entirely) in Peter’s lap when she comes by for movie night on Thursdays.

Ned’s also had the unfortunate privilege of watching them from the armchair in the low light of the TV.

After the wine they’ve drunk starts to kick in, the way Michelle’s hand finds its way into Peter’s hair from where it rests behind him on the back of the couch?

And the way he swears ( _ swears) _ Peter’s fingers are stroking beneath Michelle’s shirt at her lower back, where he’s got his arm tucked around her?

It is...well it’s definitely  _ something. _

And you see, usually, they only do this when Ned’s around to roll his eyes at them because they’d discovered fairly quickly that there’s something different about it when there’s no audience to _ ooh _ and  _ ahh _ over their interactions.

Seems like today they’re just playing for them.

Michelle moves around the kitchen with practiced ease, putting away the groceries she’s brought over and doing her best to pretend that she can’t feel Peter’s eyes on her.

“Uh, not that I’m not happy to see you, but what are you doing here?”

Peter had mentioned to her in passing earlier last week that he’d be staying behind over winter break and frankly, her mind has been made up ever since. The lack of reaction from her parents and brother when she’d informed them she’ll be missing the big dinner had solidified for her that she’s made the right decision.

Michelle turns to him then, half inside the fridge as she places the veggies and bags of shredded cheese inside the crisper drawer. “You didn’t think I’d let you spend the holidays alone, did you?”

His returning smile is unbearably fond, and she quickly refocuses her gaze on the open drawer in front of her, extremely grateful for the chill of the fridge cooling her flushed cheeks.

“So, what’s on the menu?”

The menu, it turns out, is all of Peter’s favorite dishes and he watches a lot in awe (and a little in love if he were honest with himself which...he isn’t) as Michelle makes the most of their tiny kitchen in whipping up a truly impressive meal for the two of them.

Peter tries to help all of two times and when he adds the wrong amount of salt to the sauce she’s making and manages to scorch the bottom to boot, Michelle relegates him to silent and most importantly  _ hands-off _ encouragement.

He makes the most of that, wiping down counters when she asks and washing up the dishes as they go to help make cleanup a little easier for himself later.

He’d grown up watching May and Ben work together in the kitchen in much the same fashion, Ben over the stove, May usually helping clean up because cooking has never really been her thing and something warm and content settles in his chest at the idea that he might be able to have that someday.

_ (The scarier thought that he might have it already isn’t completely lost on him either.) _

Standing over the counter, hands deep in some kind of pie crust dough, Michelle puckers her lips and puffs out a blast of air in a futile attempt at keeping her hair from falling in her eyes and Peter laughs quietly, a gentle thing as he pushes off the wall opposite where he’d been watching her.

He steps up behind her, closer than he’s been all day, and angles himself to look at her from the side. They’re not touching, but she can feel him everywhere as he keeps that smile, the one just for her, and delicately tucks her loose too-long bangs behind her ears.

Michelle falters in her careful kneading at the feel of his fingertips brushing across her cheeks and turns to look at him when he doesn’t move away. There’s something in his gaze that sets her heart racing, not at all helped when she sees his eyes flit down to her lips and back.

_ Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrnngggggggg _

The oven timer? A cock block? She’d never have guessed but as Peter heads to pull out one of the baking dishes, whatever was building at that moment is gone.

This is the part of their friendship that perhaps does not work as well as she and Peter like to pretend it does. Their flirting (it is flirting and deep down she knows it) can sometimes lead to these awkward silences where they’re one step away from truly crossing that line, but neither is willing to take the plunge.

She sighs, refocusing on the pie she’s making and praying that this thickness in the air passes by the time dinner is ready.

They’ve settled into Peter and Ned’s little dorm-provided loveseat to watch a movie and dig into the delicious food Michelle has prepared for them when she’s finally able to relax again. They sit together with their knees touching and once they’ve cleared their plates, they relax back into the sofa.

Peter turns his head to look at her and she matches his gaze, head balanced in the palm of her hand.

“Everything was so delicious, MJ. Thank you.”

She smiles back at him, blinking slowly both from exhaustion and the wine she’d brought along to accompany their meal. It’s cheap and definitely from the convenience store around the corner, but it gets the job done and hey, they’re college students.

Their alcohol preferences are...alcohol.

“Of course, Parker. Happy to be of service.” Peter grins back at her, but there’s something in his eyes that has her reaching out and tangling their fingers together. “Everything okay?”

If you ask her later, she’ll blame the wine, but the way Peter squeezes back, pulling her hand into his lap lets her know she’s made the right choice.

“I just...was thinking.” The movie is still playing in the background and the room is bathed in a warm glow from the string lights MJ had strung across their window sill a few weeks ago since Ned decided that since he’d be at home, they didn’t need to get a tree.

“When I was younger, I used to watch Ben and May on holidays and I always wanted to have something like they had…” he begins and Michelle doesn’t breathe, not wanting to shatter this little bubble they’ve made for themselves. “I just miss him so much, and-”

Peter breaks off, swallowing the emotion that always envelops him when he talks about his uncle. It’s been 7 years since Ben died and he still feels that loss every single day, but during the holiday season is when he misses him the most.

May is spending her time with Happy (as she has every year since their summer fling turned year-round fling) and she invited Peter of course, but he just...didn’t have it in him this year.

Happy and Morgan remind him of Tony and the combined loss he feels has been overwhelming in previous years so when the opportunity to stay behind arose, Peter took it. May had smiled a little sadly when he’d told her the news, but it seemed like she understood. She’d pulled him into a hug, and hadn’t commented when he’d pulled away with wet eyes.

“I just miss him...and today, with you, I felt...I don’t know...” He’s struggling to find the words but he presses on, turning his body to face her, never letting go of her hand. “I liked cooking with you today. I liked just being with you today without any of the pressure...” his eyes find hers. “Just you and me.”

Michelle doesn’t dare speak, leaving space for Peter to work through his thoughts as she brings her other hand down to play idly with his fingers still wrapped up in hers.

She knows this moment is significant, that it will change them and she wants to make sure Peter says everything he needs to say. She wants to hear everything.

Everything he has for her she wants it and she’s so frustrated that it’s taken them this long to get here. To get to this moment.

“MJ...Michelle, I want us to try this... _ really _ try,” he chuckles a little, “I know we’re always testing the waters with us, but-”

He’s cut off when Michelle leans in, slowly as if to give him time to stop her, but that’s the last thing on Peter’s mind and he meets her a little more than halfway to connect their lips.

It’s a soft kiss, delicate and Peter brings his free hand up to cup her jaw, keeping her close as he pulls back for just a moment before immediately diving back in. Their hands squeeze tightly, tethering them to the moment as the kiss grows more insistent until the need for air outweighs their desire to stay locked together.

“And...you kissed me?” Peter rests his forehead at MJ’s temple, kissing her cheeks lightly until she giggles and pushes him away.

“Debatable,” she tells him, pushing at his shoulder until he leans back to meet her gaze. Her eyes are bright and open and Peter can see the lights from the window flickering in them, making them sparkle. “I definitely remember being kissed. I’m like...67% sure.”

There’s a mischievous lilt to her tone that has Peter raising an eyebrow, even as he untangles their hands to wind his arm around her back, pulling her flush against him on the couch basking in how different her laughter sounds when he can feel it.

“Hmm, better get that to 100% then,” he smirks before capturing her lips again, deepening it when Michelle threads her fingers into his hair just to have something to hold onto.

Peter runs his hands up and down her sides as they kiss, even daring to dip under the hem of her tank top to grip at warm skin when Michelle moans into his mouth. She feels hot everywhere he touches and she might be embarrassed later at the whine that escapes her when Peter abruptly pulls back to ask her the single dumbest question he's ever asked her. 

"Hey, MJ?" 

"What?"

"You warm yet?" 

She hates him.

(She loves him.)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Come find me on tumblr @michellesbohh!


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